Again and Always
by joannahobbit
Summary: Why do the bad things always seem to happen to Stella? Complete, rating change. Sorry it's so late! Hope the wait was worth it.
1. Chapter 1

The usual disclaimers ok? Please let me know what you think!

The phone was ringing.

Damn. That did not bode well for the day, for whoever was calling could not wait thirty minutes. Everyone knew he got up at four.

"Taylor". Even before the voice came over the line he knew who it was. He always knew.

"Mac. It's me. I need you to come over." The urgency in her voice shook all vestiges of sleep from him.

"Where are you?"

"My place." Her voice broke,

"I'll be right there."

And he was. Less than thirty minutes after her call he walked into her building. She was waiting for him. She was covered in blood. When he reached for her she recoiled.

"What happened?" Her eyes met his and he felt his heart constrict. "Please no. Not that. Not again." He thought. "It's not even been three years since…" Mac could not bring himself to think the name.

"There was a man….he got away."

"Do you know who he was?"

"I don't know! I left work and got a drink with Flack. He left with some girl around 10 and when the band finished their set around 11 I left. No one approached me during that time. I did not leave the table till I left the club. When I got home my door was unlocked. I took all the precautions, I had my piece in my hand and did a through search but no one was there. I had asked that the maintenance man come fix a light, so after about thirty minutes of checking the place out I figured he had just accidentally left the door unlocked. I had noticed that the light was fixed as I was checking. When I was done I made sure my door was locked but kept my gun on me just in case. It wasn't till I had been home for over an hour that anything happened. It was almost one so I decided to call it a day and get to bed. When I went to my closet I was blinded by something white; I actually think it was flour; it didn't sting whatever it was. Then, he pulled something over my head and…it felt like forever. I don't know why I did but at some point I passed out. I called you as soon as I woke up. She swayed as if she were about to pass out again.

Mac reached for her again, this time she let him touch her. He put his hands on her upper arms. "Are you ok. I mean…other than…"

She did not answer him, just looked at him with eyes that spoke of all she had been through. Why did everything happen to Stella? Frankie, fires, Drew, attacks, HIV scares…he could keep going but chose not to. Instead he just pulled her into his arms and wordlessly told her he would see her through this too. As he had the other times. It was the least he could do. She had been there through the darkest time of his life; the country he loved so much had come under attack and in that attack the woman he loved had died. She had stayed with him for a month.

Keeping one arm around her he called his team. The night shift was still on duty but he wanted the best on this case. Danny said he'd call the others and be there as soon as he could. Mac felt like a jerk for having to repress a chuckle at the thought that Danny would probably not have any trouble getting Lindsay. Sure enough Danny and Lindsay came in together less than an hour after he himself had walked in.

"Hawkes is on his way; we tried several times but can't get Flack. Adam's going in early to wait for anything we find so he can process it first and fast." Danny informed him looking at Stella, concern and anger on his features. Lindsay's eyes were filled with tears.

"I'm taking her to Angel of Mercy. You two start processing her place. I don't think you need me to tell you that all other cases are on hold until we get this guy. Here's a key. Call me if you find anything. I'm going to stay with her for the foreseeable future."

Mac guided Stella out of the building and into his vehicle. He could not stop the kiss that he placed on her forehead as he buckled her into the front seat. She broke down at that simple gesture, one he had given her so many times for so many reasons. He hurried to the drivers side and after he started the engine took her hand in his, driving with only his left. She sobbed as if, well, as if she had just been through one of the worst experiences any person could ever go through. She fainted just as they got to the hospital. He got her in and the nurses had begun processing, so he tried Flack. Nothing. When the Nurse emerged she handed Mac what she had collected and told him that Stella had indeed been raped but that and a few scratches were the only trauma. They did want to keep her over night just to make sure. Was there any family to inform?

"No. She has no one…." In his mind he finished the sentence "…but me." That was not exactly fair he told himself. Stella had the entire team. They were her family. Just not biologically. Mac knew that, cliché though it sounded, the team was not going to rest till they found the rapist.

Looking in her room he saw she was asleep. Deciding to let her remain so, he stepped into that hall to make another call, yet remained in the door on the chance that, should she wake she would see him there. He watched her as the phone rang. Even in her sleep she looked strong.

The first words out of Danny's mouth were "We've found some interesting things. There is a powder residue around her closet. Seems to be a kind of flour. Hawkes and some uniforms are canvassing the area. They've found three condoms a latex glove. Hear from Flack yet? We need him to question any possible witnesses."

"No Flack yet. Call Angell and have her help till he gets there. Make sure she asks the sup about the handyman who fixed Stella's light. Apparently she had needed something fixed and he might have left the door opened. Is there any sign of the door being forced?"

"No. We had to use the key you gave us to get in. We'll send the stuff to trace and get Angell up here. How is Stella?"

"Sleeping. She was indeed raped but there is no other major physical trauma. A few scratches and a bit of other trace I'm going to have couriered to Adam. Hopefully we can get something there."

"'K. Tell her we're thinkin' 'bout her."

As he hung up Mac became aware of another person being worked on in the ER. From the noises around the victim, he could make out was that it was a man who seemed to be quite drunk and very beat up. Another cop could take that case, he had more important things to do. He would try Flack one more time before going in to be with Stella. This time the phone was picked up on the first ring. Before Flack could say anything Mac lit into him.

"Flack! People have been trying to reach you for over an hour! Why the hell were you not answering your phone?"

But it wasn't Flack on the phone.

"Um. Sir?" Mac felt a tap on his shoulder as he waited for Flacks response. He turned around and saw an orderly with an open phone in his hand. The man did not have time to say anything else before Mac ran to the victim that had been brought in moments ago. Orderlies and Nurses hampered his progress to the man on the stretcher. But he could still see who it was. Flack. And he was covered in scratches.

I'll try to get this finished asap, the more/better reviews I get the more likely I'll get this done quickly. (=


	2. Chapter 2

Glad people are enjoying this! Hope I don't disappoint.

XXXXX

Mac called Danny. "Danny! Flack's been brought in. He's been attacked. Before her attack he was with Stella. There might be a connection."

"Not 'might be' Mac. Is. Lindsay just found a police badge in Stella's closet. It belongs to Flack. We called the number in just to be sure and they confirmed it was his. Do you think…" Danny could not even finish the thought.

"We can't assume anything until we know more. Stella said Flack left the club with a girl. You and Angell get down there as soon as you are done at Stella's and see what you can find. Make sure Adam gets the evidence."

"Will do."

Mac got off the phone and watched the flurry around his friend. What if…. No. Don't even think that way Taylor.

He spoke to the Nurse in charge, telling her about the possible connection to the other case and asked her to collect the evidence as fast as she could. She complied and a short time later he was sending a courier to the lab with the packets. Flack had a broken nose so was going to be in surgery for a while, and Stella was still sleeping so he went to the Chapel to think and pray.

"I haven't talked to You in a while. I don't even know if You are really there but if You are...please…" He could not muster more. His thoughts turned to Stella. He had known for some time how he felt about her and had reason to believe that she would be amenable to something more than the level of friendship they currently had. The only reason he had not acted was because he had let other things get in the way. He had kept telling himself there was time. If he really thought about it, he knew the reason was because he did not want to lose her. It was as if he thought that by not starting anything with Stella Mac was keeping her alive. Plus, he felt she had already been through enough in her life. What if something happened to him? He knew all his reasons were flimsy and that he ought to give her the choice. But the _man_ in him wanted to protect her; even from herself. Mac had been sitting in the chapel letting his thoughts run for about an hour when his phone rang. It was Adam.

"Sir, I got the evidence from you and from Stella's place. DNA has already been sent out. The latex glove has prints on the inside and we are running those. So far nothing. The white powder was generic baking flour. The attacker could have taken some from her kitchen."

"Anything else?"

"Yeh. Hawkes is here, he found a blue fiber on the shirt Stella was wearing. But, um, it matches the fibers of the shirt Det. Flack had on. Sir, there's no way Det. Flack had anything to do with this."

"Adam! Do not let bias effect your job. We can't think one way or the other until we get more information. We know Stella and Flack were together earlier tonight. The fiber could have just transferred then. Do you have anything else?"

"No, but Dr. Hawkes just walked in. I'll let you talk to him."

"Hawkes, tell me what you've got."

"I just got the tox screens from both Stella and Flack. Stella is clean; a slightly high BAC, but nothing out of the ordinary for getting a drink after work. Flack on the other hand; his BAC is 1.8. There was also evidence of recent condom use on them both. We are running tests to see if there's a connection."

"Ok. I'm going to call Danny and Angell. See what they've found. Keep me updated. Flack should be outta surgery soon. I'll check on him but if he's that drunk I doubt I'll be able to get anything out of him."

As he dialed Danny, Mac stood up to return to Stella. His conversation with Danny was both good and bad. No one in the apartment had heard anything and the sup had said that the handyman had been unable to get to Stella's light but that another guy in the building who had overheard the conversation had offered to fix it. The sup had let him in then left to see to something else. He had forgotten to check on Stella's place after he was done. The other man lived above Stella and had been cooperative giving DNA and fingerprints. They had gotten the same from the sup and handyman just to be sure. Angell was still talking to the club owners. They remembered Flack leaving with a brunette but that was about all they knew. They did however have a working surveillance system. A copy of the nights tape was already in Danny's kit. As soon as Angell was done they were going to swing by Angel of Mercy on their way to the lab.

Shutting his phone he walked in to her room to see Stella awake. She was in her side, curled into herself. Protecting herself. He walked over to her.

"Hey. Do you want to talk?"

She shook her head.

"Are you in pain?"

"No." Almost inaudibly.

"Anything I can do?"

Wordlessly she held out her hand needing to be touched by the one man in whom she had unfaltering trust. He did better than she asked. He took her hand, pulled her up and into his strong arms. As he sat beside her on the bed Stella heard him say "So much has happened to you. I will do all in my power to never let something like this happen again. I will always…" He did not finish his thought and she did not ask him to. Stella knew that no matter what she could rely on him. Even though she had just been through one of the worst experiences a human could go through she felt incredibly safe and protected where she was. She knew that people thought she was strong and could handle anything. And she supposed it was true. She had learned to deal when at St. Basils. Things got a bit better once she was on her own and in control of her life. Becoming a CSI helped too. And as her friendship with Mac had deepened she had known that he would always be there for her. Even when he was married to Claire he would have done just about anything for her. Claire had liked to teasingly call Stella the "other woman". Stella had been thankful that Claire understood and was never jealous. She knew she came across as strong but few people ever saw her away from work. If they did she knew their perceptions of her would be different; she had a bear on her bead because she hated the fact that there was no one to hold at night. She slept with her gun on the bedside table and a knife in the drawer. Often as not she did not eat at home; she hated cooking for herself and when she did she ate as little and as quickly as possible in order to have less time to think about the fact that there was no one to share it with. Many nights she spent watching television or surfing the net in an attempt to distract herself from her thoughts. She was not lonely or depressed by any means, but these were measures she had taken to avoid becoming so.

The strong arms around her flexed slightly, pulling her out of her thoughts and to the man holding her. Mac. She loved him and had for some time. Having no idea how he felt about her, Stella was content to maintain their relationship where it was. She preferred that guys always initiated things. Occasionally when they were together, working, talking, being and when the moment allowed she would let her feelings reflect in her eyes. Just in case Mac, possibly feeling the same way would see it and maybe do something about it. So far nothing but as long as he was here for her the way he was now she did not mind.

Stella looked up to kiss Mac's cheek just as he went to kiss her forehead. Their lips met for the briefest of moments before they pulled away from each other.

"I'm sorry." said Mac, a slight hint of…something in his voice.


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry it's taken a while. I was out of the country then super busy when I got back...I've just had time to get this down. I'm not so sure how much I like this chapter....

XXX

Stella smiled, inwardly craving another taste. "It's ok. I know that's not where you were aiming. You're too much the gentleman to take without permission."

"Stella, I know this is going to be hard, but I need to ask you some things. Are you up for it?"

"I guess. Thanks for being here Mac. I'm sorry I freaked earlier."

"I would have worried had you not 'freaked'. Besides, remember? It's what we do."

Stella smiled slightly at the repetition of the very words she had used on him.

"Can you tell me anything else about tonight? Do you remember the girl who Flack went home with? Can you give me more about what happened at the club?"

"Flack and I were having a drink when a girl came up to him, asking him to dance. I remember thinking she was pretty brazen; after all, how could she tell that Flack and I were not something more than friends? I told him to go ahead and have fun. They danced for a while and he came back asking if I were offended if he left. Of course I told him not to worry and he and the girl left. She was kinda small, 5'2" maybe, very long brown hair. Red dress I think. Mac, why are you not asking Flack about this?"

He did not want to tell her but knew she would know if he was keeping anything out; "Stella, Flack was brought in not long after you were. His nose is broken and he is covered in scratches. His badge was found outside your place. Both you and he show signs of recent condom use."

Stella's head jerked up to look fully at Mac. "What are you saying Mac?"

"From the evidence we have so far Stella, Flack is our only suspect. We are waiting on DNA before we do anything."

Stella suppressed a shudder. "Mac. It's just a coincidence. It has to be."

"Can you tell me anything about your attacker?"

"He was taller than me, slender, and did not have very much body hair. That's all I can recall, I'm sorry Mac. That description could be any number of men, Flack included."

At that moment they were interrupted by two things; the nurse entered to say that Flack was out of surgery just as Danny and Angell walked into the room. Mac stood back while the others spoke to Stella. After checking to see how she was Danny and Angell took their leave to see Flack. The nurse checked the charts and left them as well. Stella had fallen asleep again. Mac sat in the chair next to her bed and settled in for the night. He was not going anywhere.

Flack was still out and did not look so good. But then, a broken nose never did make someone look better. Yet, thought Angell, it would be difficult to improve upon the looks of Don Flack. As long as his eyes remained a blue that caused a clear sky shame she was happy. Jen did not want to think of the possibility of Don being the one to hurt Stella. Danny had tried to keep it from her but she was good at reading people and made him tell. She decided to think the best until more results were in. Danny suggested they head back to the lab but Angell refused. She would stay with Flack till he woke then go back in.

Danny left shaking his head. He did not know which was worse: Mac and Stella's crushes on each other or the ones Don and Jen had for eachother. Don had told him he kissed Jen but had done nothing about it since then. Danny had suggested that Don do something quickly, else any door that might have opened with that kiss would slam and lock.

Some time later Danny arrived at the lab.

"Wattcha got for me Doc?" he asked Sheldon.

"We are running prints now but no one has been able to check any of the possible matches. "

"I'm on it. Find anything interesting?"

"Actually yes. Of the three condoms two were not relevant to the case. The third had both Flack and Stella's DNA. I'm going to run more tests. I was also about to call Mac."

"Hold off on that till I get prints ok? There might be good news with them. Then again there might be more bad news. In which case just give him all the bad together."

"Ok. Let me know when you've got something."

A short time later, as Danny was going through the information the computer was giving him, he came upon something very interesting. A few more clicks confirmed his suspicions.

"Sheldon. Take a look at this." He said pointing at a line in the information the computer was showing. "Good news or bad?"

"I think we better let Mac decide." Sheldon was already dialing the number.

Upon Mac's answer Sheldon told him about the condom then let Danny talk.

"Mac. The guy who repaired Stella's light? He lives in the place above Stella. He told us his name was Abe Kierstoff. Which is technically true. He had it changed from Abe Mala about 15 years ago. The man who lives above Stella and who happened to be free to fix her light is the brother of Frankie Mala."


	4. Chapter 4

"Pick him up. Now!" There was rage in Mac's voice.

"We'll send a uniform." With that Danny hung up.

Mac walked to Flacks room to speak to Angell. He asked her to keep an eye on Stella. He had something he needed to do and would not allow anyone else to do it for him. Dashing off a quick note he left it by Stella's bed and hurried out. He would be at the precinct when they brought Abe Mala/Kierstoff in and would be asking him exactly why he was living above the woman his brother had tried to kill.

He arrived just as Danny was about to go into interrogation. It took all of Mac's Marine training not to lose his self control. What was it he had told Adam only hours before; not to let bias affect his job. He forced himself to allow the scientist in him to be in control. He tore into the room, Danny on his heels.

"Why did you do it? Why did you attack Stella Bonasara? How long have you been planning on this?" Questions fired out of him as quick as the rounds he wished he were firing into the man at the table.

"Mac. You gotta get outta here. You're gonna ruin this. I'll talk to him. Go into observation and watch." Danny had to pull the older man out of the room with the assistance of the uniformed officer at the door. So much for self control.

In observation Mac watched as Danny questioned Abe.

"How is it that you happen to live in the apartment above the woman who had to kill your brother outta self defense Abe? This cannot be a coincidence."

"It's not what it looks like!"

"Really? You know what it looks like do you? We have witnesses who say they've seen you out side Stella's door. Almost every day. What were you doing? Delivering flowers? Somehow I doubt that."

"I wasn't. I was trying to gain the nerve to apologize but I know that you are gonna have a hard time believing me but it's true!"

"You're right. But try to change my mind."

"I knew what my brother was. He took after our Father. Dad was a bastard. In fact, Dad caused my mothers death. He did not kill her directly but because of the way he treated her she died. I changed my name when I was old enough. I wanted nothing to do with men who could do that to a women. Frankie looked up to the man and often I would hear him talking to Mom the way dad did, it made me sick. When I heard about the woman Frankie almost killed I made it my mission to find her and apologize to her. I've tried several times over the last three years but can't bring myself to talk to her. People probably saw me outside her door trying to get the courage to knock. I've gone and stood outside her door every day since moving in about three months ago. I wanted to tell her I was sorry for what happened. For what my brother did to her. When I overheard her talking about her light I offered to fix it hoping it would break the ice so I could speak to her. But she was not there when I fixed it."

"Yeh? How am I supposed to believe you?"

"Simple. Talk to my shrink. He'll tell you everything I just have. And I was at work till 4 this morning. I had just gotten in when you came and spoke to me. Check my record."

"Don't worry. We will. If you want us to talk to your shrink you need to sign a statement releasing your files."

"Fine."

Danny walked out of interrogation and into observation.

"Well Mac? What do you think?"

"I don't know. Check his alibi and talk to the therapist. Let me know what you have. I'm going back to Stella. If I stick around here I might lose control again. Don't let him leave."

Mac stopped at the lab on his way out. Trace had found something interesting. Stella's entire apartment had been dusted for prints and had found a partial on her flour canister as well as several on the light fixture Abe had fixed. Abe's prints were on the light fixture but not the canister. There were some layered prints on the light they were separating. Once that was done they would compare those to the database and see what they found. The partial was still looking for a match.

Adam was in the AV lab looking at the Club tape. The girl who had danced with Flack was just as Stella had described.

"Gotta name?" asked Mac.

"Yep." Adam zoomed in on a section of the screen that showed the woman's hand bag. It had the logo of a very high-end designer. The kind who only made two or three of each thing he designed.

"I checked with the only place in town who sells these things. They have sold only three of these bags in the last ten years. Of those three one woman is dead and the other moved to, of all places, Iceland, last fall. So the name of the last woman is Erin Heartfield."

"Great. Have someone pick her up."

"Already done. Uhh, Mac? There's something else."

"What?"

"She lived in Stella's building."

Mac was out the door and back in interrogation before they had Erin in the building. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

Back at Angel of Mercy Stella woke again. Calling Mac's name she panicked slightly when there was no immediate response. Angell walked in instead, pointing out the note that was beside her water.

Opening it Stella read:

_"Stella,_

_Something has come up in your case that I wish to see to myself. I know I said I would stay with you for the duration of the case and I still will. When you get this, call and I will be there as soon as I can. Know I'm here for you always. No matter what. I love you._

_Mac"_

She read the note silently, her eyes filling with tears at the last line. She was not sure what to think about that. He had never indicated that he was interested in anything more than friendship with her. Surely that's what he meant by that sentence. He loved her because they were best friends.

"You ok?" Angell asked.

"Yeh. Can you call Mac and tell him I'm awake. He has my phone." She let the letter drop to the covers. Angell saw, with out meaning to, the last of it and smiled internally. She had known for some time that Mac had loved Stella and was wondering how long it would take for anything to happen. Mac was a careful man, Either the last of that letter was intentional or he was so distracted when he wrote it he had not a clue it was on that page. She was willing to bet the latter.

XXX

**A/N: This is going to be longer than I intended it to be. Thanks or bearing with me. I'm glad you like it! I'm not sure how much will get put up over Christmas. The muse is getting lazy. I have to poke it awake to get her going again. Don't worry though! I know how it ends. I'm just not sure where the road is going before we get there.**


	5. Chapter 5

Calling Mac she told him that Stella was awake. After inquiring after Flack and Stella, Mac told Angell that he would be back at the hospital within the hour. He hoped. The lab was finding some interesting things and he filled Angell in with the latest information. Hanging up Angell returned to Stella, telling her that Mac would be there as soon as he possibly could then asked if it would be ok if she returned to Flack. It was alright with Stella who thought that she might as well sleep until Mac got there.

Walking back into Flacks room Angell saw that he was finally awake. He was quite groggy but able to answer questions. But before she could ask anything he said "Jess. I'm sorry. Tonight there was a girl. I can't remember much but I think we might've…."

Angell smiled. "It's ok Don. A kiss is not a contract. We can talk more about that later. First I need to know what you remember about tonight." She turned on the recorder that she always carried with her.

"I remember a girl coming up to me when I was out with Stella. I figured what the hell right? It's just a dance. Well, she got a call while we were dancing. It was some friends of hers wanting her to come hang out with them and she invited me to come along. I thought I might, just for grins ya know? When we got to her friends place they were drinking and I got plastered, which didn't take too long cuz I had had a few with Stella. I passed out and when I came too I was in a cab and very bloody. The cabbie must have brought me here. That really is all I remember."

"Where was the friends place?"

"I can't remember exactly. I do know that I was a few blocks from Stella's place. On the first floor of wherever I was."

Angell quietly filled him in. Shock filled his blue eyes. "There's no way…Angell, you gotta believe me! I'd never do that to Stella."

"I do believe you Flack. And I'm pretty sure Mac and the others know you did not do it either. I know they've been talking to a few other people. In fact I think they've found the girl you were with. Mac should be talking to her about now."

And he was. As they had been waiting for her to arrive the lab had found some interesting connections to the case. Erin was the adopted step-daughter of the sup in Stella's building. The lab had also finished separating the prints and were running them. The partial print had a match to the unknown prints on the light. Abe's alibi had also checked out. They were still waiting on the shrink.

Erin was not very cooperative. Eventually she admitted to an angry, but in control Mac that she was indeed related to the sup. She insisted however that she had nothing to do with the case and that she had gone up to Flack because she had liked his eyes. Mac glowered at her, trying to think of his next move when Hawks came in with a file and some information. "Information first. Mac, there's no way Flack did it. The DNA from inside the condom is more degraded than the DNA from the exterior. If both sets of DNA had gotten on the condom at the same time there would have been the same amount of degradation. Then, as I was about to call you, Adam handed me this. So I decided to walk it down to you." With that he handed the file to Mac. Looking at it, Mac asked Sheldon what was being done.

"We are picking him up right now." With that Hawks was gone, leaving the file.

"Would you care to change your story?" Mac asked the girl sitting across from him.

"No, jerk! Why would I? You just want someone to blame. You wanna wrap things up as soon as possible so you can show the media what a good job you do catching the 'bad guys'. I told you! I have nothing to do with this."

At that statement Mac slapped the open file in front of the girl. On the top was a phone record. "According to you, you received a call from friends while you were dancing with Flack. According to this you received a call from your step-father. Interestingly enough, about ten minutes prior to that, you called him. Not only that, but your prints were found on her flour canister and her light. This is your last chance to come clean. With your prints we can lock you up but, something tells me the phone calls were not just to say 'I love you daddy.' So, tell me what is going on or your going to jail for attacking a cop."

With a glance at the file Erin told her story. She owed had maxed out her credit cards and her step-father had paid them off. He said he would not make her pay him back if he helped her with a little job. She claimed her step-father had told her he just wanted to scare the pretty scientist in the building so she had done has he had asked; going in, moving things around in her pantry and breaking the light. She was also supposed to make sure the door was unlocked after the repair man had fixed it. Then she was supposed to follow her for a while and make sure the woman went home alone. When Erin had called her father to tell him she was about to make her move on the blue-eyed man Stella had been with her father said she had done well. After she had taken Flack to the party he had gotten pretty drunk. It had been easy to get him into bed. After that she had called her father to come get her. When he had there had been a slight scuffle between him and Flack. She had stopped it when she had explained to her father that she had not been forced.

After Erin's explanation it was not long before the sup was in custody and the rest of the story had come out. The sup had been stalking Stella since her move into the building. It had taken a long time but he "had finally come up with a way for them to be together." Hearing the man say that Mac had to grip the table in order to stop himself from jumping over the table and killing the man with a trained blow to the head. With the unwitting assistance of the daughter the sup had proceeded to cause Stella to come to him often with requests. Then the night before when he heard about the blue-eyed cop he had seen his chance and taken it. When he went to get Erin he had intentionally started the fight and had been able to get the condom out of the trash in the room in the confusion. He knew the habits of his daughter and was banking on the condom having the cops DNA. Transferring the DNA inside another condom and transferring the DNA from the condom he had used had been simple. And since he had left no fingerprints he thought he had been home free.

Mac had no response to the story. He just walked out of the room, barking out "Lock him up." as he hastened to the exit and his car. He needed to see Stella.

XXX

**A/N: I'm neglecting things to do this so please make it worth my while and r&r! **


	6. Chapter 6

**This is embarrassingly late in getting posted. Thanks SO much for your patience! Now you know why most of my stories are one shots!!! I hope the end is worth the wait. If you've not read my other stories please go do some R&R with some of them after you're done here!! There might be an epilogue but I'm not sure. **

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It was not long before he was walking into Stella's room, only to see that she was asleep. There was no quelling the rush of emotion that came with the realization that she was safe. Again. Mac could not stop himself; positioning himself on the bed, he pulled the sleeping woman into his arms and lap. Burying his face into her curls, he let the tears come. This could not happen again. He wanted, no needed, to protect her. Every time Stella was hurt something inside of him shattered. He knew he could not always protect her from everything but dammit! He was going to try.

Stella had woken when Mac had moved her but remained still, thankful for the comfort and security he brought. She wondered what he was thinking; he was being incredibly still, only the muscles in his arms flexing occasionally. She finally realized he was crying.

"Mac?" She pulled herself up to face him. "What's wrong? What happened?"

He pulled her back into his arms; his heart needed her as close as possible. "Nothing's wrong Stella. We got him." He would only tell her details if she asked.

"Then why…?" she looked up at him as she touched his face.

Mac grasped her hand, pulling it to his lips before lacing his fingers with hers. "I can't do this anymore Stella. I can't see you hurt, fix it and not be able to protect you from something else. My heart can't do it. I know that the timing is all wrong and that saying this is probably inappropriate right now but you need to know; I love you. Please, let me protect you. Always…forever."

Stella sat up, but stayed in Mac's arms. Placing her hands on the sides of his face she said; "There will never be an inappropriate time for that Mac. You are the reason I have gotten through all the trauma of my recent past. Frankie, AIDS, fires. All of it. I made it through because you were there. Yours was the first face I saw after I shot Frankie. Do you have any idea how seeing you made me feel? I was upset but not afraid. I'm not afraid now, and haven't been during this whole time. I knew that you would find who did this and that you would make sure he answered for what he did. I trust you Mac. I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone. More than I ever will trust anyone. You know my past. You know what I've gone through. Other people have used their knowledge of my past to hurt me, but never you. Never. You've gone out of your way at times to keep me from getting hurt. I've seen that and over time, a very long time, I came to trust you and to love you. Yes; I love you too Mac. I don't think this is a bad time. Love is never at a bad time."

The kiss was not accidental this time. This time it was sure, both of them communicating with their lips things their mouths were unable to say.

When the pulled apart Mac still had tears in his eyes.

"Still?" asked Stella.

"I'm worried about you. What is your life going to be like for the next several weeks? Are you going to be ok? I can't protect you from the trauma-induced stress that you are going to go through. All I can do is be there for you. But I wish I could do more."

"Let me show you something. I need my phone."

Pulling Stella's phone out of his pocket Mac worried about what he might be about to see. But instead Stella put her phone on speaker and called up her messages. The familiar voice said "You have one saved message. Saved since: 2005." Then his own voice came over the speaker; _"Stella, it's me. I just wanted to make sure you're ok. My offer for a hotel still stands. And if you need anything, anything at all, I'm here for you. Three in the morning? Fine. You know I'll be there as soon as you ask. You don't have to go through this alone." _There was silence as she shut the phone. Finally:_  
_

"Do you know when you left that?"

"The day after Frankie. You saved it? That was years ago."

"Every time I had a hard day, or something happened I would listen to this. I listened to it every night for three weeks after I got it. Hearing your voice right before I went to sleep made me feel safe and kept the dreams of Frankie at bay. When he did appear in my dreams you did too and in those dreams you protected me every time. I still listen to it on a regular basis. Every time I have a hard day I listen to it. When we have a fight and I want to strangle you I listen to it; it makes my anger dissipate. You don't need to worry about my mental state in the near future. If having your voice was all I needed to make me feel safe, having _you_ will increase that feeling of safety exponentially. I know I don't have to go through this alone. Now that you know I still have this on here I can thank you. I've always wanted to thank you for making me feel safe after a bad event but I knew you'd want details and I was not ready to tell you exactly how you did that. Now you know. This message has gotten me through so many hard times. So; thank you Mac. For keeping me safe and protected."

Another kiss, another declaration of love. Uncertain tho the future was it was also safer.

_Fin._

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**Please: R&R! I have a long weekend so I'll do my best to reply to you guys this time. (=**


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